The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry on Tuesday stated that both Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed that the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, who have been taking shelter in the Bangladeshi territory along the Bangladesh-Myanmar international border, will be completed within two years after the start of the repatriation process.
As per media reports, the joint agreement, which was adopted in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, by the Joint Working Group formed to start the process of repatriation of over 650,000 Rohingyas, who fled to Bangladesh from the violence-hit Rakhine state of Myanmar. It has been reported that the repatriation will be based on considering the family as a unit.
The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry stated: “The Physical Arrangement stipulates that the repatriation would be completed preferably within two years from the commencement of repatriation,”
According to the agreement, “Myanmar would shelter the returnees in a temporary accommodation… and expeditiously rebuild the houses for the returnees to move in there.”
“Under the Physical Arrangement, Bangladesh would establish five transit camps from which returnees would be received initially in two reception centres on Myanmar side.”
It may be mentioned that Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an agreement on November 23, 2017 to repatriate the Rohingyas, who arrived in Bangladesh starting from August, 2017 and according to the latest figure released by the United Nations on Monday, their number has risen to 655,500. According to the agreement, the repatriation process had to start within two months of the signing of the agreement.
Meanwhile, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, notes Monday’s meeting of the Joint Working Group over repatriation at Naypiydaw in Myanmar. They reportedly discussed the implementation of their bilateral arrangement signed on November 23, 2017 on the return of refugees who arrived from Rakhine state in Myanmar into Bangladesh since August 25. UNHCR has underscored the importance of the dialogue between the two States at the core of which is the right of refugees to voluntarily return home.